Although removed from the seat of hostilities
during World War One, New Zealand's coastal waters and her domestic shipping were far from
immune from its ravages. Enemy raiders commonly prowled the South Seas lying in wait along
known shipping routes or lacing them with mines. Sometimes these mines would break loose,
becoming passengers of tide and current and creating a fatal hazard to the steamships
plying the waters between New Zealand and Australia.

One such ship, the Wimmera, was a well known
carrier between the Tasman Sea neighbours and a favourite with the travelling public.
Built at Greenock, Scotland in 1904, Wimmera was a small passenger steamship of
3022 tons register common during the era. She was owned in New Zealand by the Australian
based company Huddart Parker whose Wellington office building remains opposite the
waterfront to this day.

On July 25th 1918 Wimmera left Auckland at
10:00 am bound for Sydney with 76 passengers and 75 crew on board. Her route was to take
her north towards the Three Kings Islands where she would turn West and South towards
Sydney. At 8:00pm the following day, after a period of rumour filled silence, her owners
received information that Wimmera "had been lost off the north coast of New
Zealand by external explosion". At 5.15am on Wednesday June 26th 1918, 18 miles North
of Cape Maria Van Dieman, Wimmera struck a mine placed by the German raider Wolf.
The explosion shattered the stern of the ship and she quickly settled but remained on an
even keel. All lighting went out within two minutes of the explosion making the evacuation
of passengers all the more difficult. Thirty minutes after the explosion Wimmera's bow
shot 50 feet up into the air and she plunged stern first to the bottom sending up a huge
100 foot high geyser of steaming water. Describing her final moments Mr F. W. Mole, a
passenger on that fateful trip, said; "The scene as the vessel sank was as impressive
as I desire ever to see".

In those feverish and terrifying last minutes the
crew and passengers remained remarkably calm and stoic. In the dark, many dressed only in
the flimsiest of garments having minutes before been snug in bed, the passengers clambered
their way up unseen stairways and along unfamiliar corridors to the open deck. Douglas
Bradney, a Union Steam Ship Company officer travelling to Australia made the observation
that in "passing along the alley-way to the saloon companionway, where he met several
of the ladies coming out in perfect calmness. They were "bricks" he
said..."

The Wimmera's Captain, Herbert Kells, remained at
his post until the last along with the Chief Officer Mr A J Nicol and the Chief Steward Mr
H Verge. These and 23 others lost their lives on the ship. The lifeboats were launched but
one was swamped and a second stove in leaving the remainder to rescue the surviving 125
passengers and crew. Once launched and at the mercy of wind and current the lifeboats
drifted far and wide. Four boats containing eighty four survivors landed at Tom Bowline
Bay near the very tip of the North Island in the evening of July 27th. On the afternoon of
this day a fifth boat came ashore at Taemaro, four miles east of Mangonui while another
boat was blown clear of North Cape and drifted down the coast to a landing at Kaiamou
Beach

Survivors landing at Tom Bowline Bay were the first
to be advised to the eagerly waiting media and the Evening Post of Thursday June 27th
published the following list of survivors:

At the shore the survivors were met by Mr Murrdoch
Munro and some of his men who had seen sighted the boats approaching the shore. It was
dark and cold and the survivors could not stay long on the beach. Thus began a journey of
eight miles over rough and mountainous country. Barefoot and clad in the most meagre
attire, they followed a faint bridal path having, at times, to crawl on hands a knees. On
arriving at the Homestead of Mr Munro, hot food and hot coffee, prepared in advance for
their arrival, were dished out to the grateful survivors. It was from here that the
Assistant Purser, Mr K Gorrie, accompanied by a local Maori, rode 17 miles to the nearest
telegraph station to cable the news of the wreck

Earlier on the same day another lifeboat containing
30 more survivors had drifted ashore at the small settlement of Taemaro, 4 miles east of
Mangonui. Rowing until daybreak and sailing for most of the next day, the survivors of Number
One Lifeboat surviving on biscuits and water were grateful to feel dry land under
their feet. Mr Stacey, the school teacher at the Native School at Taemaro, reported at
8:30pm that four survivors had reached his house and approximately another 26 were waiting
on the beach. Mr A McKay, the local storekeeper at Mangonui took his launch and a relief
party across the water to Taemaro. The early report received advising of the survivors
arrival was not clear and the names of survivors, written on a scrap of paper were barely
legible. The names of the Mangonui survivors are copied below:

A further boatload of survivors later drifted
ashore at Kuimora Beach. These survivors were:

By June 28th all boats had been accounted for and
further searches yielded no additional survivors. Twenty Five passengers and crew had lost
their lives in the incident. The many acts of heroism occurring on board Wimmera and later
as the survivors struggled to make landfall are reported in local
newspapers. Each heralds and praises the self-control, composure and unfaltering
courage shown by all. As if to cap off this tragic story the Evening Post for Friday June
28th 1918 makes the following reflective remark:

"In connection with
the disaster, it is interesting to note that on this trip the Wimmera left for Sydney
direct. Had she made her usual trip down the East Coast of New Zealand, it is very
probable that nothing out of the ordinary would have occurred."